Til Death Do We Part
by JAGartist
Summary: On hiatus.
1. Guilty Until Proven Innocent

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Guilty Until Proven Innocent ||

* * *

JAGartist: And here comes the disclaimer to ruin the moment.

Mana: No one likes that.

Atem: (shakes his head) Why are we here again?

JAGartist: You're here to help me with the disclaimer.

Atem: And why would we do that?

JAGartist: (Put on pout face) You get a cookie if you do it. Please?

Mana: Oh! I'll do it! Me! Me! Me!

Atem: No.

JAGartist: Two cookies?

Atem: … Fine.

Mana: I'll start! JAGartist does not own Yu-Gi-Oh…

Atem: … Or any of its contents. Can we go know?

* * *

Time passed by with every second feeling like hours. To the boy, it looked as though time had almost stopped.

He had made his claim.

The city made theirs.

Witnesses had made their statements and the evidence had been presented. The jury had gone to make a final decision.

He waited for the jury to come back with his head in his hands. He kept thinking to himself over and over again: _What have I done?_

He didn't do it on purpose, he already knew that. It was the fact that he did it that mattered.

His chest began to ache. It was hurting badly, almost unbearable. Was he having a heart attack? No, that wasn't it. He was nervous, breaking out in cold sweat. He couldn't even look towards the benches where his friends and family waited for him, hoping that he would be joining them. Wait was all they could do.

The doors opened. The boy's head shot up quickly that what he would like. He watched in anxiety as the jury filed in one by one. _Why do these things have to take so long?_

The judge looked towards the jury. "Have you come to a decision?"

One of the jury members, a woman, got to her feet. "We have your honor."

"Please proceed then."

His heart was beating at an uncontrollable rate. There was a moment of pause. "In the case of Mutou vs. Domino, we find the defendant…"

The boy lowered his head, unable to look at the jury anymore. _This is it… It's all over… I'm sorry, everyone… I screwed up… I really screwed up..._

_

* * *

_

I've been reading these spin-offs of Yu-Gi-Oh FF for a while and started getting this crazy idea in my head. Since I'm having writer's block for my other stories, I figured I'd just work on a few chapters on this one. I have no idea how long it'll be, but I'm just gonna go for it.


	2. Whole New Life

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Whole New Life ||

* * *

Atem: I thought we could leave.

JAGartist: I didn't say you could.

Mana: (munching on her cookie)

Atem: I thought we had to do it once.

JAGartist: But I didn't say you had to do it just once.

Mana: (munching on one of Atem's cookies)

Atem: (sighs) This is anno-HEY! That's my cookie!

Mana: I saw you weren't eating it and decided to eat it for you. (Gives an innocent smile)

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents (munches on Atem's other cookie)

Atem: Hey! My cookies!

JAGartist: Don't worry. I made plenty. (Smiles with innocents)

Atem: (groans in annoyance)

_

* * *

_

Two Years Later…

The bell went off and students came pouring out of Domino University almost instantly. Several were ready to toss the books aside and just relax after hours of studying. Most were more pumped for the Thanksgiving holiday week. That meant a whole week of doing almost anything.

Some of the students would stay on campus over the break, but most were getting ready to head home to see their families. About a fourth of those who did leave would be leaving the city. The rest were sticking around since their home was in Domino City.

Within five minutes, all the classrooms were empty of students. Well, almost…

The man sighed with relief. Finally, he had some peace and quiet without other noisy students to bother him. He stood out easily because of his spiky tri-colored hair and it was relief to finally have some privacy.

He had taken his time in gathering his stuff as his fellow classmates filed out of the room. Eventually, other than the professor, he was alone. Of course, his professor hadn't noticed that he was still there having going into his office as the students left. It was the same for the man as well seeing as he was turned away when he left. The professor was surprised to see him still there when he came back out ten minutes later.

"What's the hold up, Mr. Mutou? The others are already gone."

The man looked up surprised. "I didn't realize you were still here as well, Mr. Walton."

"My office is next to my classroom, so I come and go at my pleasure."

"I'm sure you do." He placed the last notebook in his bag before shutting it and flung the case over his shoulder so that it rested on his back. "I hope you have a good break."

"Right back at you." The man turned to leave.

"Hold on a moment. I almost forgot." He had just gotten to the stars from his seat when he stopped. Mr. Walton opened a desk drawer and pulled out what seemed to be a report. "I finally finished grading those blasted self-oriented reports we did back at the beginning of the class and I have to say I'm impressed."

The man became curious. "What's so impressing about it?"

"What was so impressing about it? Young man, it was the best paper I have ever read. Never had I seem such passion and work be put into a paper such as this one. It's no wonder teachers have been talking about you in the lounge."

The man was surprised. "I'm being talked about?"

"Indeed you are, though I have my reasons against gossip." Mr. Walton grunted. "I never like being in there. Teachers these days have nothing better to do than to gossip."

The man couldn't help by laugh. "I wouldn't be too harsh on them, Professor. Most still take their job seriously, despite what they say outside the classroom."

"True, true." Mr. Walton smiled. "I want to talk about what we'll do with this paper of yours, but I've probably held you long enough. You'd best go."

"O-Of course, sir." He was surprised on how fast his professor could change the subject.

As the man began to walk up the stairs and to the door, he was stopped again by his teacher's voice. "We will discuss about this when classes resume."

"Of course."

"Don't you forget it, you hear?"

"I won't, sir."

"What's your name?"

"I'm – Wait. What?" The man turned in surprise. The old man was still smiling.

"I've always tried to get to know bright students like yourself. That starts out with a name."

The man was silent at first, but then smiled. "It's Mutou. Atem Mutou, sir."

"Atem… I believe it's Egyptian."

"Yes, sure. My father was from Egypt. He's the one who named me."

"Well, he chose a good name for you then."

Atem smiled and left.

* * *

"About time, Atem!"

Atem had joined a small group of people just as he left the classroom. On his left was a blond haired man along with his companion who had dark brown hair in a spike, Joey and Tristan. To his right was a young woman with brown hair who had grown it out and was now in a short pigtail, Téa. Also to his right was a young man who looked almost exactly like him, his brother Yugi. The difference between his twin and himself was that Atem had several layers of hair that had grown along his spiked hair. The other difference was that Yugi's eyes still had a childish look to it while his were more serious looking; that and the fact that Yugi's voice still had some signs of child in them.

"What took you so long?"

"What the teacher do, hold you back?"

Téa glared at the two boys. "Leave him alone. He doesn't have to tell you everything that happens to him."

"Come on, Téa. Give them a break. They're just worried about him, that's all. Right, guys?" said Yugi with worry, trying to prevent a fight from breaking out.

"Yeah. That's what we meant."

"Right." Téa just rolled her eyes.

Atem couldn't help but smile. He was right. Joey and Tristan were just worried about him and that was all there was to it, as well as Téa. _Life is finally normal again._

* * *

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to head to head over to Yugi and Atem's place!"

"Why there?"

"Because we can't do my place, yours is always out because you're a girl, and I don't even want to know what's at Tristan's place."

"Hey…" Tristan pulled Joey into a head lock. "What's wrong with my place?"

"I just don't want to come in contact with any disease that may be living in there."

"How about I make you sick right now?"

Yugi, Téa, and Atem gave an anime sweat drop as they watched the two wrestle one another. _Like I said… _Atem smiled in amusement. _Life is finally normal again._

"So what do you guys wanna do when we get there?"

"I'm gonna play the afternoon away with video games!"

"I thought it was to eat everything that's sitting in Yugi and Atem's fridge."

"Oh yeah. There's that two…"

"Why so eager? You're just going to get your butt kicked again?"

"By who? You?"

"Well, yeah. Me too, but I'm talking about Atem. He always wins."

Atem gave a nervous laugh. "I appreciate the comment, Joey, but I'm not undefeatable."

"Wanna prove me wrong?"

"Leave him alone, Joey. He doesn't have to prove anything."

"Do you want a piece of me, Téa?"

"Bring it, Joey!" Everyone laughed at as a rare quarrel between Téa and Joey took off. Atem just smiled.

That smile faded instantly as a police car with its sirens going off went by, causing him to flinch in fear. He sighed in relief when the car turned the corner. Even after two years, they still got to him.

Yugi grasped his brother's shoulder. "Relax, Atem. I don't think they'll be coming for you anymore now." His friends were also supportive of him. Atem was grateful for that.

"Thanks, Yugi. I'll be fine." Yugi smiled and released his hand. But as the others moved on, he was rooted to the spot. He found it pathetic jumping up every time he heard a siren go off, even in the distance. It always made him believe that they were coming for him again. Only after the sirens went by when they were close did he finally relax. He cursed himself for fearing it.

He shook his head. _I can't be going and remembering that time. I've come too far to let it get to me now. I just wish I could forget it…_

"Atem! Hurry up!"

"What's the hold up?" Atem's thoughts were broken as he looked up and saw his friends waving for him.

_I can't think of what happened before… I have to think of the present day… and of my future…_

_

* * *

_

Okay, I have a major problem with Microsoft Word right now. Yes, it does work, but I have a problem with its spell check!

_I just don't get it. Even though spell checks says a word is spelled incorrectly, sometimes that same word is in the Word Dictionary when you look it up. How annoying is that?_

_Later._


	3. Wanting to Know

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Wanting to Know ||

* * *

Atem: (munches on cookie)

Mana: See? Nothing to worry about.

JAGartist: I never said you could leave, but I did say you only had to say the disclaimer once.

Atem: (glare) Then why am I still here?

JAGartist: I just need someone to talk to.

Atem: (sighs)

Mana: I like talking to you!

JAGartist: Thank you, Mana.

Mana: You're welcome.

Atem: (continues to munch on cookie)

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents

* * *

"Mana! Earth to Mana!"

"Huh? What?" The girl snapped her eyes opened. She had realized she had been sleeping while walking again, this time in broad daylight.

"Don't fall asleep on me now, girl. You can't go to sleep right now. We have things to do."

Mana managed a smile. "If you mean get to work before Greg goes at us for being late, then yes, we do have things to do, Diane."

"That's exactly what I mean. Of course, the boys will want you to wait their tables again today." Diane sighed. "You're so lucky, Mana. I wish guys would turn their heads towards me whenever I walked by."

Mana laughed. Her long, brown hair, cute looks, and cheerful personality, boys everywhere drooled over her, both figuratively and literally. Even now as they walked, males old and young turned their heads just to watch her go by. In truth, it made her very uncomfortable.

"See what I mean?"

"I know… but I wish they'd mind their own business and stop staring at me like a piece of meat." Mana couldn't help but sigh. "Even the guys at school can't keep their eyes off me. It's so annoying… Especially when one of them asks me out at least once a month…"

Diane frowned seeing her friend frown. "I'm sorry, Mana. If I could, I'd switch places with you. Then the only reason someone would be looking at you would be because they're also looking at me."

Mana smiled. "Thanks, Diane. You always know what to say."

For a moment, they were silent. Then…

"So, Mana. Did you found out anything at your last session?"

Mana grew sad again and shook her head. "Sort of… It was just like the last one and the one before that. Nothing… Dad is starting to see it as a waste of time and are trying to get me out of them."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You need this…"

"I know… Sasha agrees, surprisingly." Sasha was Mana's stepmother. As strict as the woman was, deep down she was very caring towards the girl and her well being. Even so, Mana and Sasha did not get along very well.

Then it dawned on Diane. "Hold up a second. You said 'sort of'. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… I did remember something… though it's from an old dream I had as a child…"

"Well, what is it? Tell me!"

"Well… Just don't laugh, okay?" Mana's serious face was on.

Diane made an X over her chest with her hand. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Mana smiled. Diane always understood her. Now where to start… "Well… I remembered… a boy."

"A boy?"

"Yeah… I couldn't see his face though… I only dreamed about him, but…" Mana had taken hold of her arms and squeezed them. "I feel like I met him before…"

Diane was speechless and stared in awes.

Mana blushed. "I know… It's just silly…"

She had expected Diane to laugh, but was surprised when she didn't.

"Are you kidding? This is the first thing you've been able to remember since… well… you-know-what."

Mana frowned. "But it's nothing."

"You're wrong. It's something. There must be a reason why you remembered that particular dream."

"… You think so?"

"I know so. Why do you think we're friends?"

"Uhh…" Mana thought about it for a moment. "We're both really good at drawing?"

"Well… yeah there's that… but no!" Mana flinched from Diane's sudden outburst. "We're friends because I care about you. I want to make sure that you're going to be okay, no matter what those 'rents of yours do or say! You're like the sister I'll never have."

Mana stared in surprise. "Wow… I never knew you to be so straightforward…"

"Well, don't get used to it."

Mana chuckled. "Thanks, Diane."

Diane turned away to try to hide her smile. "No problem."

Her expression changed to concentration. "I have one question that's been bugging me for a while now."

_Once again, she quickly changes the subject… _"And what's that?"

"If you did end up dating someone, what would they be like?"

Mana was surprised by the question, not by the question, but for bringing up a previous subject like it was nothing. For a moment, she hesitated.

"Well, Mana?"

Mana whined. "Well… I guess… I guess I'd want to date who's-"

Just as the two entered the diner, Martha's House, the sound of their names was in the air. "Mana! Diane! It's about time you two got here!"

Mana and Diane didn't have to look twice to see the chaos. There were customers everywhere, all wanting something. And their coworker, Greg was in the middle of it, trying to make sure everyone had what they needed without success.

Diane busted out laughing while Mana struggled to keep herself from doing the same thing. This didn't please the blue haired 19 year-old with the Mohawk at all. "Sure, laugh at my misfortune. Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Come on, girls. It wouldn't be nice to leave him hanging, would it?"

The girls turned. "Mrs. Martha!" The mid-aged woman just smiled at them from behind the counter.

"Hmm? Hey, where's Casey?"

"She's visiting an old friend today."

Mana gave a pout face. "That's too bad. I had something for her from my drawing class."

"Well, just hold on to it, Mana. She'll be back tomorrow and you can give it to her then."

Greg was struggling. "Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?"

"You'd better get changed and help Greg out before he losses it."

"Right away, Boss!"

* * *

The storm was calm within the hour. With Mana and Diane's help, customers' needs were tackled and once again they left smiling. By the time the last customer left, they were exhausted. All three plopped themselves onto chairs.

"Was that the last one?"

"That was the last one."

"My arms are going to fall off."

Greg whined. "I've been working since noon, so don't complain."

"Leave us alone, Greg. We're high school girls."

"I'm a college student!"

Mana sighed. Diane and Greg never seemed to get along. She knew there was a reason behind it, but she didn't know what. Diane never talked about it.

"Well done, everyone. Once again, we end the day in complete success." The three couldn't help but smile when Mrs. Martha was in the room.

"You can clean up now and head home when you're done."

"Yes, Boss!"

* * *

"Hey, Mana."

"Hmm?" 30 minutes later, Mana and Diane were walking home.

"Have you told your parents about your job?"

Mana sadly shook her head. "No. I still haven't told them."

"I guess you're still worried they won't take it well."

"No…" Mana sighed. "What am I supposed to say to them? 'Hey Mom? Dad? I've been working at Martha's House for the last two years despite you telling me that my education is my only priority and that I wasn't allowed to get a job.'"

"… Wow… You've got it tough."

Mana whined. "I know…"

"But you're one of the best students at school; you've been a member of the book club since starting high school and have been its president since becoming a sophomore, not to mention you're the manager of the school's basketball team. And the fact that you're doing all that and still managing a job? That's pretty awesome."

Mana just shook her head and flopped down on a bench. "They wouldn't understand… All they care about is my grades and me getting into the college they want. I'm not sure what to do." She cupped her head in her hands.

Diane sighed and took a seat. "Mana, relax. You'll figure this out."

Mana looked up. "You think so?"

"I know so. I'm your friend. I'm supposed to know this kind of stuff."

Mana smiled. "Thanks, Diane."

"Again, no problem." Diane stood up, dragging Mana with her. "Come on. I wanna be there when your parents ask you how your day went."

"What's the story you're going to tell them?"

Diane acted like she had to think about it, but Mana knew she already had a solution. "I'm over there working on that book report due after the break?"

"They may be a little suspicious of that, but it's reasonable."

"I thought so."

Both girls couldn't help but laugh at the thought as they walked down the end of the street where Mana's house stood.

* * *

_JAGartist: Very sucky way of introducing Mana, but I'm gonna go with it._

_Atem: It does suck._

_Mana: Leave her alone. She's doing what she can!_

_JAGartist: Thank you again, Mana. This is why you're my favorite female character. I sort of wish I was a little more like you_

_Mana: Aw… Thank you!_

_JAGartist: You're very welcome (sticks tongue out at Atem)_


	4. Why Can't I Forget

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Why Can't I Forget ||

* * *

JAGartist: And here we are with another disclaimer to announce

Mana: I have to say I'm having fun with this

Atem: I'm not though

JAGartist: (impression of Pegasus) Lighten up, _Yami-boy! _You shouldn't let the pressures of stardom overwhelm you! Of course, you already knew that. Wouldn't you say, _Yami-boy_?

Mana: (claps) OMG! That was amazing!

JAGartist: That was pretty good huh?

Atem: (completely disturbed) I can't believe you did that…

JAGartist: I do what I must [Wow, I'm starting to sound a lot like my best friend] (deep in thought)

Atem: (sighs and drinks coffee in peace)

Mana: JAGartist does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents. Only OC characters of her creation.

* * *

That night, Atem was tossing and turning in his sleep. He couldn't remember the great time he had with his family and his friends. He couldn't remember how happy his grandfather and mother were when he told them of the success of his first report of the semester. He couldn't remember the toast he had made along with everyone.

He could only remember that night. Flashes raced through his mind.

* * *

…_He stood over that body with a smile on his face…_

…_The color of crimson blood was in his eyes…_

…_There was blood…_

…_His brother was horrified by what he saw…_

…_His eyes returned to violet with realization…_

…What have I done?_..._

…_The head of the body looked up at him with a grin…_

…"_What have you done?" it said…_

…_Atem staggered back…_

"_WHAT HAVE I DONE!"_

* * *

Atem shot up. He was breathing heavily, was in cold sweat, and his eyes showed fear and guilt. He coughed and realized that his throat was dry. He grabbed the bottle of water that was on the night stand next to him and gulped it down. It didn't help much. Wide awake, he looked at the clock.

6:23 am, it said.

Atem took several deep breathes before relaxing, but he was still shaken to the bone. Why? Why did these dreams have to keep haunting him like this? He knew what he had done and he had paid for it.

He didn't know the answer and he was too frightened by what he had seen to care. He cupped his head into his hands before looking up. There was no way he was getting back to sleep now. Not after that.

The first thing he did was get rid of the sheets which he realized had been drenched because of his sweat and tossed them off the bed and into a pile before placing cleans ones on. He also tossed the clothes he had worn to bed into the pile seeing at they had been soaked as well. He removed what sweat remained on his body with a cold shower followed with a slip on of clean clothes. He decided that since he wasn't going back to sleep that he'd just wear his outfit for the day.

It was a pair of black jeans along with a gray long sleeve. As he attempted to get a pair of socks on his feet, he couldn't help but notice his reflection in the mirror that hung from his door. Though he looked pretty much exactly what everyone else saw him as every day, it was his eyes that surprised him.

There were shades of black and blue under them, sighs of exhaustion. He hadn't looked into his reflection in quite a while and was surprised to see just how awful he really looked. Was this how everyone saw him now? An overstressed college student that looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion at any minute?

Or did he only look like this because of the dream he had just recently had?

Atem shook his head and turned away, not wanting to look anymore. He reminded himself to get rid of that mirror when he had the chance. He now remembered why he hated to look at himself.

Because he was scared of see that same red he had in his eyes from that night. He already relived it in his dreams. He didn't want to relive it in reality too.

As Atem headed downstairs, he thought about just watching television until everyone woke up. Seeing as it was only about seven, no one would be up for at least another half hour. His thoughts went against it as how he would have to explain the way his eyes looked when they got up and he wasn't in the mood for that.

He instead decided that taking a walk in the brisk morning air, hoping it would help clear his head even a little bit. He slipped some money he had saved and grabbed the book he had been reading in case he stopped at a coffee house or something. He wrote out a short note telling everyone he'd be back in a while before grabbing his brown, leather jacket and heading out.

_

* * *

_

JAGartist: This had got to be my shortest chapter that IS NOT a prologue

_Mana: (gives a confused face)_

_JAGartist: I'm talking about the prologue from 'The Youth of a Princess, The Tears of a Thief'_

_Mana: Oh yeah, that one._


	5. First Meeting Over Coffee

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| First Meeting over Coffee ||

* * *

JAGartist: Now to one of my favorite parts of the story. The first fateful meeting between the two lovers.

Atem: I hope this isn't one of those original plot points with the meeting being friendly in a diner or something.

Mana: I don't know. I think I'd like for something like that to happen.

JAGartist: Well let's just see what happens.

Atem: Oh boy…

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents.

* * *

Mana yawned as she swept. Even though it was seven in the morning, she was at the diner. The usual morning weekend employee called off at the last minute and Mana was the only person Martha could get a hold of. Seeing as she would get paid a little extra for coming out for her shift a lot earlier than need be, Mana accepted. Now she was starting to regret it deeply.

She knew that when the first few customers came she would be wide awake, but she was still exhausted, even with the ten hours of sleep she got from being in bed so early.

To make sure that her parents didn't ask, she had convinced them to let her stay at Diane's place. It was simple. Mana would stay the night then head to the diner early the next morning. Diane's mom was willing to help out knowing how stressful Mana's life was. The plan was that if her parents called to check up on Mana, Ms. Joley would say she was fine and then go into conversation with them to distract them from Mana. It always worked.

Mana was pleased knowing she had Diane's family supporting her. Diane's mom was like her mom too. The mom that her adopted mother wasn't.

She yawned yet again and finished with the sweeping. It was just as she was putting the broom away did Martha call. "Mana! You can open shop when you're ready!"

Mana gave an okay back and flipped the "closed" side of the sign to the "open" side. She was smiling. _Something's telling me something good is going to happen today._

* * *

Atem was glad there were few people out. It gave him time to think and sort his thoughts. Thought it was mostly because if it had been later on in the day, he would be having several girls follow him around. Joey and Tristan called him 'A Girl Magnet.' The reason being?

Almost everywhere Atem went, he would have a swarm of girls following him. Most of them would be college students from the area, but every once in a while, there'd be a high school or two from his old high school, Domino High. They annoyed him mostly because most of those high school students were from a fan club that had formed around him when he was a sophomore and that hadn't died down even after he graduated. Even freshmen who had only started attending after he left had joined the club. He was considered that popular, even after high school.

Seeing as how not a single fan girl was following him around made him smile a little bit. The less people that bother him, the better mood he was in. In fact, he usually got cold around most other people, other than his friends, family, and those much older than him, such as his professor. Everyone else he just either was disrespectful towards or just gave the cold shoulder. Despite this, girls still wanted to be with him, much to Atem's annoyance.

His thoughts brought him to a small part of town he hadn't been to in a long time. He recognized the scenery once he looked at his surroundings. He looked up and realized he had stopped in front of what appeared to be a small diner. There were several customers already inside. He checked his watch.

7:32

His mother and grandfather were mostly likely up by now, but his twin brother would more likely than not still be sleeping. He had time to kill he figured. Deciding that this was probably a good place to relax a little, he stepped inside.

A sign stood at the entrance that said, _"Welcome. Please seat yourself." _Which is exactly what Atem did by taking a seat in the back where he was least likely to be bothered.

* * *

Mana's head turned when she heard the bell to the door ring and watched as a young man took a seat at one of the booths towards the back, though she didn't even bother asking why there of all places when there were plenty of seats up in front or at the counter. She shrugged to herself as she grabbed a menu and walked her way over there.

"Hello! Welcome to Martha's House!" Mana said cheerfully while placing the menu down on the table. "What can I start you off with?"

For a moment, the man said nothing. Mana figured that he hadn't heard her and was about to repeat the question when he answered.

"You do realize that your cheery attitude is annoying, right?" He hadn't even picked up the menu that had been placed him front of him. Mana was taken aback by the man comment. This was the first time a guy had told her that she was annoying. This irritated her a bit.

"I'll just have coffee." He said. It was if his last comment had never gone past his lips.

"R-Right away, sir." As Mana pulled out a mug and started making a pot of coffee, she took a glance at the man. She noticed that his hair was unique with it spiked up in black with a red trim and that his bangs come out as blond. She also noticed how serious looking he was and how violet they were as well. She saw some circles underneath them, but she hardly noticed. She couldn't stop looking at him. It was if she was in a trance. She couldn't even remember why she was so irritated in the first place. Yet, there was something familiar about him…

"Mana, if you're not careful, you're going to spill that coffee everywhere and probably burn yourself." Martha's words broke Mana out of her trance and turned and saw that the coffee had almost reached the top of the pot. She quickly turned off the machine and poured some of it into the mug even though the pot felt heavy in her hand because of the extra coffee in it.

* * *

From the moment Atem laid eyes on the waitress, he knew she would be exactly like everyone else. A person who only liked him for his looks. He saw how she stared at him when she was making his coffee and how she was fritting over it when she realized she had almost over filled the pot from not paying attention. Every girl that saw him did something similar to that one way or another.

Though for some reason, she didn't see to droll over him like other girls did. Was she perhaps more calm in her 'love' for him? No, that wasn't it. Pretty much every girl, other than Téa, had declared their love to him. He would recognize someone such as her. But why did he feel that he's seen her before? Déjà vu perhaps?

Whatever it was, it was the girl's positive attitude that annoyed him. He knew that she wasn't as cheerful as she wanted people to believe. In fact, she was actually feeling sad, lonely, and worried. What she felt inside came nowhere near how she was acting. That's what was annoying him so much. He stared down at the menu. _Might as well as get something since I'm sticking around for a while._

"Here we are. One coffee." The waitress wiped her hands to get rid of the heat that she felt from the hot mug. From her apron, she then pulled out a pad and a pen.

"Okay! What can I get you today?"

There she goes again with that fake cheeriness. He didn't show it, but it was annoying him.

"Did anyone ever tell you how fake that attitude of yours is?"

That was why Mana was so irritated before. This man and his critics were the cause. Much to her surprise, she was becoming more irritated every time he spoke. Before she could respond, he continued.

"Don't bottle up your emotions. Trust me; it's not good for you."

Mana's pen came close to being snapped in two. She hadn't realized just how annoyed she had become and was allowing her emotions to take over her sense of reasoning. "Look, are you going to order or not?"

For the first time, Atem actually looked up at her, though he barely moved his head. "That look you have now? It's not cute."

Mana had reached her breaking point. A vein popped out of her head. "Look you-"

"I'll just take the special; eggs over-easy and the toast rye."

There he goes again; acting as though he had said anything about her. For the second time in the last five minutes, she had completely forgotten why she had been irritated with him. As though her anger had just vanished, she was surprisingly calm.

"Right away, sir." She took the menu and walked away. There was something about that man that both aggravated her and made her heart skip a beat. She wasn't sure what his true fact was. Was he a rude, inconsiderate person? Or was he something else?

With how he was constantly changing his personality, Mana couldn't keep up. She pondered the manner as she placed his order.

* * *

Atem pulled out his book and read as the lone waitress took care of the needs of the other customers. Every so often he would look up from his look to get a quick glance at her. After getting a better look at her, he noted that she had long brown hair that seemed to go downward in all directions. It went surprising well with the radiate tan her skin gave off. He also noticed that her eyes were aqua green like the ocean at a certain time of day. He failed to notice it before, but he saw just how much her eyes sparkled with she was happy. Every so often, that shine would be replaced with a dull look showing just how sad and lonely she really was. Her fake positive mood annoyed him, but there was something about her that just made his heart leap. But what was it?

"Eying my waitress, are we?" Atem dropped his book in surprise with his face beet red and looked up to see a familiar face.

"Martha?"

"Well, seems like you found my diner. Though not intently, I see."

Atem just stood up. "I didn't realize this was your place."

"I had a feeling you'd find it eventually on your own. So…" Martha took the liberty of taking a seat in the opposite seat from him. "Tell me what's been happening? I hope Casey's been good to that grandfather and mother of yours."

"I wouldn't know. I went home only yesterday. I've been staying at the dorms at the college I'm attending."

"That's good. I hear you've been doing really well from your grandfather."

"He talks about me?"

"He sure does. Well, actually, he tells this to Casey and she tells everything to me."

Atem laughed.

* * *

Mana risked turning to look at the man again and was surprised to see Martha sitting over there having a friendly conversation with him. It was as if they had been old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.

"Mana! Order up!" She turned to see the cook, Luke, place the man's order on one of the shelves that stood between the back of the front counter and the kitchen. She knew she'd have to go over there again, even though she didn't want to. Partly because she didn't want to interrupt the conversation going on between this man and her boss, but mostly because she didn't want to get another rude comment from him or blush for being close to him.

Of course, it was too late for the blushing seeing as she had given the signs of one when the man had sudden started smiling and laughing. Probably at one of Martha's humorous stories.

"Hey, Mana. Are you gonna take that to him or are you gonna just blush and droll over him for the next hour?" Mana began going at the cook, who just smiled and chuckled. She stuck her tongue out at him as she placed the breakfast on a tray and carried it over.

* * *

"…and the poor guy just stood there drenched while everyone around them clapped and cheered for her."

"Wow. Not very many girls will go so far to do that. I bet the guy tried to get her fired, right?"

"You got it! Of course, I was the one who threw the guy out and told him never to come back. No one treats my girls like an object and gets away with it."

"I can see that."

He heard footstep and saw the waitress walking over to them. He wasn't too pleased to see her, despite the conversation he just had. Martha saw this and thought otherwise.

"Aw, Mana! We were just talking about you!" From the expression she was given, Mana wasn't pleased that she had been the center of talk. "Well, Atem, I'll just get out of your way. And the meals on me."

"Thanks, Martha."

"And play nice you two!" The comment caused both Atem and Mana to blush a beet red.

"Martha!" They said in sync with each other. Martha just laughed and walked away with a wave of her hand.

Atem shook his head. _Why does she always have to tease me like that?_

Mana looked around the diner and realized that the front of it was completely empty other than themselves. _Martha and the others did this on purpose…_

"Here, one special," she said coldly. She pulled the meal from her tray and placed it in front of the man, Atem she realized his name was. She didn't appreciate it when people talked about her behind her back. "Need anything else?"

Atem just mumbled, "Just more coffee, please." After talking to Martha about the waitress, Mana, he didn't have the heart to be rude anymore. Martha had mentioned that Mana was going through the same thing he was with the popularity, the declarations of love from those with a crush on them, etc. He had somewhat of an understanding as to why she acted so joyful a lot.

Mana was surprised by the calm and respect in Atem's tone. Before, he would have been cold and mean towards her even when he wasn't making some sleazy comment about her. But now…

Mana wondered about the change of heart as she left to grab the pot of coffee she had made. She again took a glance and saw he had already started eating his meal, but it was the smile he was giving that surprised her. Either he liked the food a lot or he was thinking about whatever Martha had told him earlier. Whatever it was, Mana couldn't help but feel as though all her problems had faded away. A part of her began to wish that smile was towards her.

She shook her head in disbelief. _I can't believe you'd start thinking like that, Mana! You don't have the time for a relationship right now. With school and club activities and work, there'd be no room for dating someone… Besides, Mom and Dad would never allow it…_ She thought this as she poured coffee into Atem's cup.

"You shouldn't be worrying about how others will think of you."

Mana faced Atem in surprise. "What?"

"Instead of worrying how someone's gonna treat you, you should be doing what you want to do, not what someone else says you have to do."

He hadn't even looked up from his meal when he spoke. Mana was completely taken by surprise by his comment. _Can he read minds or something?_

_No, it's in your eyes _Atem wanted to say out loud to her, but decided against it.

Mana left him to his meal as she pondered what he had said to her. _'You should be doing what you want to do…'_ She couldn't get his words or his voice out of her head.

Maybe there was some truth in those words.

Maybe he was completely right.

Of course, she would have thought that if she knew what he was talking about. Despite how smart she was, it sometimes took her time to understand the meaning of a phrase, such as the one Atem had just made.

She turned her head when he stood to leave and headed over to gather his plate and cup. As the two passed one another, he stopped. "I should come back. The coffee's pretty good."

Mana blushed. Was he just saying that to be nice to her or did he really mean it. With him, it was impossible to tell.

"Maybe I'll tell my brother and friends about this place. Good place to go in the morning if you're looking for some quiet."

With that, he walked out. Mana couldn't help but watch him as he left. She was still blushing, but at thing point, she no longer cared.

As she gathered his dishes, she spotted a bill under his cup. Pulling it out, she saw it was a twenty, the biggest tip she had received from one person. _Guess he must have really like that coffee after all…_

For the first time in a while, she smiled for real.

_

* * *

_

JAGartist

_: And there you go people. The first meeting between Atem and Mana._

_Atem: You made me sound like some cold jerk though._

_dmg13: Well I didn't want to make it a completely friendly first meeting. There are too many of those already. So I decided to go with a different approach._

_Mana: Good call there!_

_JAGartist__: By the way, Mana. I almost forgot to thank you for doing the disclaimer in the last chapter._

_Mana: You're welcome!_


	6. Can't Stop Thinking About Them

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Can't Stop Thinking About Them ||

* * *

JAGartist: And we're back.

Mana: I liked the last chapter best so far. What do you think Atem?

Atem: Can't say. I want to see more before I decide.

JAGartist: So you do like this story!

Atem: I didn't say that!

Mana: You didn't have to say it to tell it! It's written all over your face.

Atem: I thought you were supposed to be my side!

Mana: I'm just telling like it is!

Atem: (sighs)

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents.

* * *

The next several hours went by in a blur. For some reason, Atem couldn't get Mana off his mind. At first he figured it was because of her fake cheery attitude and gleeful smile that he had dealt with. But as time went by, he knew that his first conclusion wasn't even close to the truth. He knew deep down there was something more than that.

But what was it?

"Hello? Earth to Atem. You in there?" Joey even waved his hand in front of Atem's face to get his attention, but he didn't respond.

"He must be thinking of something really important to ignore me like that." Joey said, irritated.

"He does have that look on his face." Tristan added.

"What do you suppose he's thinking about? Yugi?" Téa asked. Yugi just stared at his brother with a straight face.

"I may be his twin, but I can't determine what he's thinking about, Téa. I'm not psychic, unfortunately." Yugi shook his head. "Well whatever it is, he's really distracted by it."

"I know what'll snap him out! Wait here a second!" Joey raced out of Atem's room, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oh boy…"

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Tristan, if he tries anything that could end in disaster, stop him."

"You got it." Just as the words left Tristan's mouth, Joey came rushing back in… with a pan in his hand.

"Uh oh."

"J-Joey…? What're you gonna do with that?" Yugi hesitantly asked. Joey just gave one of his big Wheeler-smiles.

"What do you think I'm gonna do? If there's one thing that'll get him back to us its whacking him in the said of the head with a frying pan!" He rushed over and lifted it high. "Here we go!"

"Joey, no!" Tristan grabbed Joey before he could bring the pan down.

"What are you doing?"

"We're trying to snap him out of thought not knock him unconscious, dork!"

"Let go of me!" The noise from Joey and Tristan's wrestling match is what brought Atem back to reality in the end. The first thing he saw was this struggle between his two friends and turned to his left and right towards Yugi and Téa for an explanation. However, when neither one of them answered nor looked back at him, he just shrugged and turned his attention back towards Joey and Tristan. By this time, Joey had started using the pan he had to hit Tristan. Atem had a horrible feeling the pan had actually been for him.

* * *

"Mana? Are you there? Hello?" A shake on her shoulder woke her up.

Mana shook her head. "Huh? What?"

"It's about time. I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes." It was the afternoon shift now. After having done a few hours on the morning ship, Mana had spent a few hours sitting around the diner in a daze until it was time for her usual shift. It was pretty busy around lunch time, but as the afternoon was coming to a close, so were the coming of customers. It was quiet now, though Mana hardly noticed it.

"Oh. S-Sorry."

Diane gave a sly face, which made Mana a little nervous. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were thinking of someone."

Mana blushed. "No! What makes you think I'd be thinking of him?" In truth, she had been thinking about Atem. There was something about him that prevented her from concentrating on anything.

"Ah, so you _are _thinking of a boy. What his name? Tell me!"

_Whoops… _Once again, Mana spilled the secret without even knowing. There was no point in hiding it anymore though. _And besides, Diane's my best friend. She can keep a secret._

"Alright, I'll spill. Just don't laugh or tell anyone, okay?"

Diane nodded. "Okay. His name is Atem."

For a moment, it looked as though Diane was going to scream. But she didn't, much to Mana's relief. She seemed to know something. "What. What is it?"

"Oh nothing. I just thought this Atem was someone I knew, but that's impossible."

"Who's Atem, your boyfriend?" Mana and Diane had to bit their tongues to not scream. Greg had decided to pop up from behind the counter. Diane was steaming.

"Greg! Don't do that! Do you want to get smacked?"

Greg just gave a goofy grin. "First off, that was for laughing at me the other day. And second, I couldn't help but overhear your little conversation. So, Mana… You finally got yourself a date, huh?

Mana's blush was a beet red. "No, he's a friend of Martha's! That's all!"

"That's all? Are you sure about that?" Mana nodded her head rather quickly. "I'm sure."

"But how do you know this?"

"He was here this morning talking to her."

"Oh yeah..." Greg said in a voice of realization. "You were helping Martha with the morning shift today."

"Yeah. Of course, he was really rude and cold towards me."

Diane and Greg were surprised. "You serious? You mean he wasn't drooling all over you."

"Don't go putting it that way, Greg! But yes, he wasn't staring all the time like I'm some sort of football to him."

"A football? That's an odd way to put it."

"And you said he wasn't staring 'all the time'. Does that mean he gave you a glance now and then?"

Mana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. If he was, it was whenever my back was turned."

There was silence. Then Greg asked, "How cold was he?"

"Pretty cold." Mana admitted rather quickly. Mana took the mop she was holding and started wiping the floor with it. "There was not even one nice comment. And half the time he acted as though he never said anything to me."

"That is cold."

"If he made you cry, I'll clobber him for you, Mana." Diane popped her knuckles in a threatening kind of way. Mana smiled.

"Thanks, Diane, but that won't be necessary."

* * *

"I was what?"

"Spacing out. You were thinking of something-"

"- Or _someone_." Joey added, wrapping his arm around Atem's neck. "Our little man here's having lovey-dovey thoughts about someone."

"That's not it at all, Joey!" Atem claimed, trying to escape from Joey's grip.

"Rule One in the 'love book', you deny your true feelings. And you're denying it! Besides, it's written all over your face!"

Tristan nodded in agreement, something that was uncommon when it came to Joey. "He's right, Atem. Even I can see it. Guys?"

Yugi and Téa only nodded. Atem sighed. "Fine, I'll talk, just let go will you? You're cutting off my air supply!"

It was harder to breath with Joey squeezing on him and had to take several heavy breathes when Joey finally let go.

"Sorry about that." Atem just nodded and rubbed his neck.

"Her name is Mana, she works at this diner called Martha's House, and she's just one of Martha's employees."

"Who?"

"Martha. And that's all she is, a waitress."

They just stared at him. "What? I told you what I knew, didn't I?"

"That was just simple though! Where are the details? What actually happened?"

Annoyed, Atem explained what had happened at the diner than morning and how he felt about the girl.

"She sounds like a nice person."

"Weren't you listening, Téa? He said she was faking it. I bet she's this major fangirl who's pretending to not know him just to get close to him."

"Well, she could be that one girl who has never heard of him either," Téa added

"I don't know about you guys, but I think that those who fake being cheery are the most selfish and miserable."

"I get the miserable part, Tristan, but selfish?"

Tristan held his hands up palms out. "It's just how I feel."

Atem only listened as his friends argued about what she was really like. It didn't really matter though. According to Martha, Mana was only on that morning shift because someone else hadn't shown up. And since he hated being out in the middle of the day because of all the staring and popularity and declares of love and all that, he doubt he'd get to see her again anyway.

"Hold on guys. Calm down. We barely know anything about this girl, let allow had ever met her. It's just like they once said. 'Never judge a book by its cover'. Right, Atem?"

There went Yugi, always knowing what to say. Atem couldn't help but nod in agreement. The rest just looked at each other with guilty looks on their faces.

"I guess you're right, Yugi."

"I feel kind of bad now after you said that."

* * *

"And why not?" Diane was crossed. She liked it when she fought with people, especially when it was for Mana's sake.

"Well, he was also pretty nice too at some points."

Diane lifted her hands and started moving them back and force at a rapid pace. "Okay, okay, hold on. Back up a second. First you're telling us he was cold towards you. Now you're telling us that he was also nice too?"

"Just once. It was advice."

"Advice?" Now Greg was interested. "What was it?"

* * *

"I also gave her words of guidance." Atem spoke out suddenly.

"You mean advice? Why?"

Atem just stared into the ceiling. "I don't know. There was just… something about her that was bringing her unhappiness."

"Unhappiness? What do you think is causing it?" Joey asked.

"I'm not a psychic, so I don't know. But I told her this. 'You shouldn't be worrying about what others think of you. -"

* * *

"- Instead of worrying how someone else's gonna treat you, you should be doing what you want to do, not what someone else says you have to do." Mana shrugged her shoulders. "But I have no idea what he was talking about."

Greg thought about the words for several minutes. Then he responded. "It's pretty good piece of advice if you ask me."

"That's what you told her?"

"Yeah, sure. Is there a problem?"

"Well, you have this thing called 'talking in riddles'," Tristan quoted.

Atem shrugged. "I doubt she was able to figure it out anyway. ~"

* * *

"He was talking in riddle, so it's like I said. I have no idea what he was going on about."

"I think it's kind of obvious."

Mana perked up. "Do you know what it means?"

"Sure do."

"Then what is it?"

To her surprise, he just shook his head. "If the advice was to you, then I think you have to be the one to figure it out."

"Aw! That's not fair, Greg!"

"That's just what I believe. So, my lips are sealed." He made the movement of a zipper across his lips then pretended to lock it and throw the key away.

"Greg! Tell – her – now!" Diane said before attempted to whack him across the head. But with the counter standing in between them, her efforts didn't get far. Greg just smiled as Diane attempted to reach over the counter to hit him.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Why don't you come over here and I'll show you my best!"

Mana smiled. She had a feeling that these two had more feelings for each other than they'd like to admit. That probably explained why they argued so much.

"Alright, lovebirds. Back to work. You're still on duty." Martha came from the back of the diner clapping her hands. "I think we've entertained the customers enough, thank you."

Mana turned and was shocked to see that every customer there was looking in their direction. No doubt they had just watched the show Diane and Greg were displaying. Some of them were even laughing. Mana couldn't help by laugh seeing how red the two had become when they realized just how public their little appearance had become.

_I'm glad these guys are my friends._

* * *

"~ and I doubt she ever will."

"That's harsh, Atem. Even for you."

"It's not my fault she decided to try and pretend to be 'Miss Perfectly Happy Girl'." Atem sighed and leaned against his bed. "Besides, it's just like I said before. She's just a waitress. It's not like I'll ever see her again. Or that I really care."

Joey thought about this and shocking said, "If that's true, then why are you thinking about her? Let alone talking about her too?" Atem sat up and stared at Joey in surprise. For once he had a point. Why was he thinking about her? He would have answered had he had one at all. Instead, he just shook his head and leaned back against the bed. _I'm starting to wonder that myself… _He sighed in annoyance and rubbed his eyes.

"I just love annoying Atem until he's like this." Joey whispered.

Atem smiled.

* * *

"Hey, Mana. Is he coming back?"

Mana felt sad for some reason. "I doubt it. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that liked being out."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. I mean, he seemed to prefer being off by himself."

"So he's a loner." Diane leaned against her mop in thought.

"I guess so if that you want to call him. I think he's sort of, I don't know. What's the phrase I'm looking for?"

"Admired by others?"

"Yeah, like that. But how would I know? I barely know anything about this guy. I mean, he told he had a brother and a few friends, but other than his name… that's about it."

"He's got a brother? If this Atem is cute, I can't wait to meet his sibling." There were signs of desire in her voice.

"Whatever you're thinking, Diane, don't. His brother's probably already got a girlfriend or something."

"Well, doesn't hurt to know, does it?" Diane asked with a pout face.

"And besides, I doubt I'll ever see him again, not during my shift anyway. And, why am I caring anyway?"

"If you don't care, then why are you thinking about him?" Diane added.

Once again, she had a point. If she really didn't care about this man, then why was wasting her time having daydreams about him? She wasn't sure at the moment. All she knew was that she had to confront him again and demand he tell her what he meant before. She figured once she knew, she'd be rid of him forever.

_

* * *

_

JAGartist

_: Chapter 6, done._

_Atem: That was a lot of talking._

_Mana: I know. That was a lot of lines to memorize._

_JAGartist__: Oh come on. It wasn't that bad._

_Atem: That's easy for you to say. You don't have to remember anything._

_JAGartist__: If that were true, then what kind of author would I be?_

_Atem: A lazy one?_

_JAGartist__: (grabs a baseball bat)_

_Atem: Uh! Why are you looking at me like that?_


	7. Old Buddy

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Old Buddy ||

* * *

Mana: "Old Buddy." Does that mean someone Atem or I know is coming?

JAGartist: Yeah, something like that. But it's not going to be pretty.

Atem: Not going to be pretty? What's that supposed to mean?

JAGartist: I could tell you, but I'd rather you'd read the story instead of trying to get it out of me, if that's okay.

Mana: I don't mind really.

Atem: I bet the readers will.

Mana: Aw you worry too much, Atem!

Atem: (confused) You think so?

Mana: Yup, so don't worry about it!

Atem: (sighs in annoyance)

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents

* * *

"Hey Mana! Come here a second."

Mana looked up from her notepad.

"Here, I'll take over for you."

"Thanks Diane. I owe you one." She handed Diane the notepad she had been taking an order from and headed over towards the counter where Martha was.

"What's up, Boss?"

"I'll just get to the point. I need you to pick Casey from Lizzie's place."

Mana tilted her head to the side with a confused look on her face. "Why though? Aren't you supposed to do that?"

"Well…" Martha looked embarrassed. "I would, but I've been busy and – "

"Let me guess. You have a pile of files and letters on your desk that you haven't looked at yet so you're making me get Casey while you stay here and work on that heap sitting there in your office. Am I right?"

Martha gave an innocent smile. "You always seem to know these kinds of things."

"Actually, I saw the pile when I went back there earlier to get that form you asked for."

"Oh. You saw that?"

Mana couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, I did."

Martha sighed. "But since you asked so nicely, I'll do it for you."

"Thank you, Mana. I can depend on you. You can sign out for today and don't worry about helping with clean up since you came in this morning."

"Thanks, Boss!"

"And what are you gonna start calling me Martha?" she called out as Mana rushed past. Of course, the door to the changing room shut before she got an answer. She smirked. "Always in a hurry, that Mana."

* * *

"Atem, where are you going?"

"Out," he answered, stating the obvious. Even after ponder things over since his talk with the guys, he was still thinking of Mana and he still couldn't figure out the reason behind it. He figured that if the morning air did him good, then the night air would provide him with what he needed to think matters over with a clear mind. Being just past four in the afternoon, the sun would be setting in about an hour, bringing cool in in the cool winds of November. It was the perfect time to go out when one wanted to clear their heads.

Yugi was persistent though. "But Atem. The sun's going to set in a little while – "

"– and dinner will be ready in an hour." Joey added bluntly. Atem just waved them off. "Tell Mom and Grandpa I'll be late for dinner, Yugi. I'll be out for a couple hours."

Téa turned from her spot on the couch. "Are you sure you should be going out this late alone?"

"Yeah," Tristan added, jumping into the conversation. "Did you hear? There's a gang of prowlers wandering around the city and terrorizing people. Most of them are young girls."

Atem smiled, much to the surprise of his brothers and friends. "I'll be fine. If they come around, I'll just clobber them."

Yugi just sighed. "Just don't overdo it if you do."

Atem nodded. "I promise." He was still smiling. Yugi smiled back. But as he turned away, his smile faded. He knew that Yugi was thinking about what had happened before. He had sworn to never do that again and he intended on keeping it.

* * *

"Mana! You're here!" Mana braced herself as the 10-year-old launched herself at Mana and gave her one of her Casey-hugs. "Did you bring me something?" She looked up at Mana with sparkling eyes.

"Is that anyway to greet me? Your mom needs to teach you to have better manners. Not that she has them herself…"

"I was kidding! I know better than that." Casey released Mana. "I'll go get my stuff!" With that, she ran off.

"It's good to see you, Mana. It's been a while since you've visited me." Mana turned to face a red-haired woman. She appeared to be in her mid-20s.

"Evening, Lizzie. It's good to see you too and sorry about not visiting. I've been busy."

Lizzie laughed. "Still haven't told the 'rents about the part-time job, huh?"

"No…" Mana looked downward towards her feet which had begun shuffling back and forth. "You know they'd make me quit at the drop of a hat."

Lizzie smiled. "I know what you're going through Mana, but you can't keep this secret forever. I mean, they're going to figure it out someday. And it'll most likely be sooner than you think."

"I know. It's just…" Mana sighed.

"By the way, I meant to ask this the last time you were here. Why are you working at my sister's diner? I know you're not the kind of girl that's there to get spending money. You're parents give you everything you need."

Mana looked towards the stairs. Casey was still in her room gather her stuff. "Actually… I've been saving the money for college."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "College? Why though. I thought your parents were paying for it."

"They're paying for the college _they _want me to go to. But I've made up my mind at another college. You know the one my grandfather works at?"

Lizzie looked surprised. "The one on your father's side. Why there?"

Mana gave a small smile. "He told me it was a great place to go for a degree in art and I want to become a great drawer. Like you are."

Mana watched as her friend blushed. "Oh stop! You're making me blush!" But Lizzie's smiled faded into a frown as quickly as it arrived. This made Mana concern. "What? What is it? Are you worried that I won't be able to pay for it?"

"No, it's not the cost that I'm worried about. It's how your parents are going to react when they realized what you intend to do."

"I know. I even got the acceptance letter the other day, but I'm worried that Mom will find it if she looks in my bag."

"You keep it there?"

"No, I always carry it with me. I make sure to place it in the bag I'm taking with me the night before. You know how scattered I am when it comes to remembering to do things."

Lizzie smiled again. "That's true. Well, if they ever kick you out, you'll have to figure out where you'll stay. You can't stay here since I've got relatives coming in to visit every week."

Mana nodded. That was true. So many came in all the time she had met almost everyone in Lizzie and Martha's family. "I could stay at Martha's."

"Her apartment is made for two people and I doubt her manager will let her take one more person in. What about Diane's place? Isn't she a good friend of yours?"

"Diane's already done so much for me. I can't burden her and her mom more by staying at their house. And I can't stay at Greg's or Luke's either. For one thing, they're boys. The other thing is that Luke sleeps in a dorm and Greg lives in a bachelor's apartment."

Lizzie shook her head. "Well, we'll think of something when that time comes. Hopefully, they'll kick you out after you move into the dorm."

"If I can afford that. The dorms are expensive to live in."

"Don't worry about that. Leave the dorm to Martha and me. We'll make sure you're not living your college years in the street."

Mana looked towards Lizzie with a smile on her face. "Thank you, Lizzie."

"Anytime - By the way, where's Martha? No wait don't tell me. She let a pile of junk gather on her desk, right?"

"Correct. So I'm here instead."

"I thought that was the case."

"Mana! I'm ready!" Mana turned towards the stairs as Casey came running down them, her Dora the Explorer bag on her bag.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to go."

"Yup. I guess so." Mana opened the door to let Casey out and started to follow.

"Mana." She stopped. "Don't forget what we talked about, but don't worry about it either. Just worry about getting that high school diploma and graduating. Okay."

Mana faced Lizzie and nodded.

* * *

Atem took a seat on one of the benches in the park. For a few minutes, he kept his eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw couples walking around taking evening strolls. The couples ranged. Old, young; short-term, long-term, they were there.

Atem had seen couples wander around the park at this time of day before and had never cared. But now, he suddenly felt very alone watching them. This was a first for him. And he didn't understand why he was feeling this way. But eventually it came to him.

_It's Mana… I still can't get her off my mind… It can't be… It's not that I'm starting to get some sort of crush on her… Isn't it?_

He sighed and leaned back. He closed his eyes and suddenly went into a light sleep.

* * *

"Mana, can we play in the park?"

"It's almost dark though, Casey. I need to get you to your mom's diner soon."

"Just for a few minutes? And the diner's not far from here."

Mana and Casey had gone a ways after saying their good byes to Lizzie and were only a few blocks from the diner when Casey had spotted the park, much to Mana's grief. If there was one place Casey loved more than anything, it was the park.

Mana thought of her options. If she said no, Casey would just cry until they got to the diner and then Martha would have to deal with it. But it was safer. On the other hand, saying yes would put Casey in a good mood, making things easier for her boss. The problem was that lingering would decrease the amount of light left in the day and the streets were most dangerous at night. And if something happened to Casey, Mana would never forgive herself and she would never been able to look at Martha or Lizzie in the face ever again. What to do, what to do…

"Alright, but just for a few minutes. We don't have much sunlight left and I'd rather you'd be back home before dark."

Casey cheered and headed for the playground, leaving her bag behind with Mana. The only thing Mana could do now was sit and wait.

As she watched Casey begin to swing on one of the swings, she began to remember how much fun she had at that same playground when she was a kid. Like Casey the swing had been her favorite. She would sit on those same swings for hours, just swaying back and forth. Sometimes Diane did it with her. Most times she was alone. But it didn't matter to her. As long as she could swing, she was happy.

Without thinking, she got up and went up behind Casey. She smiled as she grabbed Casey's shoulders and pulled her back. "Swing your legs and I'll push, okay?"

Casey nodded with a smile and began moving her legs back and forth as Mana pushed her over and over again. Pretty soon they were laughing and a few minutes became 20. Eventually, the sun vanished, bringing the darkness.

Mana spotted this first and checked her watch. "Whoops. We need to get going, Casey. We should have been at the diner by now."

Casey didn't whine when she had to get off. Even she knew better than to be outside when it got dark out unless her mom or aunt was around and neither one of them were. Just as Mana had grabbed Casey's back from the ground, she heard a twig snap. She stopped. Someone was watching them.

"Come on, Casey. We'd better hurry." She quickly pushed Casey along, away from the park. But whoever had been watching them was now following them. Mana could hear footsteps coming from behind her. She dared herself to take a peek. It was a man, someone she didn't recognize. She quickened her pace only to have the stalker increase his. Then he became they as more young men joined the first. Now there were three or four men following Mana and Casey. This was starting to worry Mana.

Mana tried not to panic and held Casey closer to her, trying to reassure her than nothing was wrong. But Casey already knew that something was up and clutched Mana more tightly in fear. Mana's attempt to keep Casey calm was not working, which just increased her anxiety. As she turned the corner, she saw several more men begin walking up to them with smirk looks on their faces.

Mana started to turn around, only to see the other group walk up from around the corner. Before she could do anything, the two groups had surrounded them. She backed up against the wall with Casey standing behind her. She didn't need an introduction to know who these men were.

They were the same group of stalkers that had been preying on people for the last few weeks now. And she had just become their next target.

Mana quickly counted. There were eight men in total, three on her left and five on her right. Even with numbers, Mana knew that there was no way she could escape, especially since Casey was with her. She was scared, but she knew she had to say something. "What do you want?" She already knew the answer.

The men just laughed at her. Casey hid her face in Mana's sweater. The man standing in the middle stepped forward.

"You should already know that, Miss Mana."

Mana stared with a surprised look on her face. "H-How did you know my name?"

"I'm hurt. Surely you haven't forgotten me?" The man stepped closer into the light, revealing his face. Mana only needed one glance to know who he was.

"You're that man that Martha kicked out!"

The man smirked. "You do remember me. You may call me Dean by the way."

* * *

Atem yawned and stretched his arm up above his head as he willed himself out of sleep. The sun had just set and the sudden change in temperature woke him up. He sleepily looked at his watch. He had been sleeping for almost an hour. "I guess I was more tired than I thought." _Though I was up at 6:30 this morning, so that makes sense._ Atem popped his neck as he continued to try and wake himself up. He was going to bed early tonight. Then it happened.

A headache had started to form. He ignored it like any other headache, but after a few seconds it suddenly got worse. Eventually, it was as if his mind was being ripped apart. He groaned and clutched his head. His eyes shut tightly as the pain continued and he fell to his knees in agony. He crutched over, wanting desperately for the pain to stop. Then he heard her.

_Someone, help me!_

Just as quickly as the pain came, it vanished. It left Atem aching. But it was fear that was causing him to shake violently. He had recognized the owner of the voice that he had heard a moment ago. And it sounded desperate. For some reason, he knew exactly where to go. He ran as fast as he could.

* * *

"Look, you can do whatever you want with me. Just let Casey go! She's just a kid!"

Dean smirked. "And what, leave your little friend there out of the fun?"

Mana sneered. "You're sick!"

He just laughed. "Call me what you like. After all, it is your fault that I'm not allowed at that diner anymore."

"That's your own fault. You shouldn't have tried to have your way with me."

"You should have just said yes and none of this would be happening. I always get what I want in the end anyway." He quickly walked up to Mana and grabbed her wrist. "Come on, let's have some fun."

Mana's reflexes took over. Her free hand had formed a fist and came in contact with Dean's face. The impact forced Dean back, releasing Mana. Unfortunately, he had pushed her away when he was hit. The push caused Mana's hand to go behind her to prevent her head from hitting the wall, only to feel pain when her hand was pulled back. She clutched her wrist as she attempted to prevent tears from falling. She figured it was better than a cracked skull though.

Dean wasn't as accepting about his injury as Mana was. His left cheek was slowly starting to swell and show signs of black and violet. Some blood was coming out of his mouth. He felt it and hissed when he did. He looked back at Mana with murder in his eye. "You bitch!"

He rushed towards her in a rage. Mana covered Casey with her body to act as a shield from the attack. It never came.

Next thing Dean knew, his left arm was grabbed from behind and held against his back in a painful position. Mana looked up and was surprised to see who the new arrival was.

Casey looked up when the attack didn't come and smiled when she saw who it was. "It's Atem. He's come to save us!"

Atem hardly gave a glance at the two girls as he continued to pull Dean's arm upward. "Care to explain what you had planned to do to these fine ladies, sir?"

Dean just spitted. "It's none of your business, punk! Let go and get loss before I let the guys go after you!"

"Am I supposed to be scared or something. You're threats mean nothing to me."

"I mean it. You'd better let go before I get angry!"

Atem was losing his patience. "If you think you're mad, you don't want to be around when I get angry. It's not pretty." He swirled around, lifted Dean in the air, and tossed in a ways away. Dean landed on his back. Mana swore she heard something snap. Atem then stood between the girls and Dean's gang. Mana took a good look in his eye. There was determination and anger in his eyes. She also swore she saw some red in them as well. He turned his head.

"They're going to come after me. As soon as they do, make a run for the diner and don't look back. Get Casey away from here."

She would have argued, but the look in his eyes brought reality to her first. He was more worried about Casey than her. She didn't blame him.

Dean got to his feet. He wasn't happy. "What are you standing there for? Get him!"

All eight men charged at Atem, believing they had the advantage with the eight-against-one strategy. They were wrong.

As they charged, Mana grabbed Casey and ran for it. She didn't stop like he said, but she did look back. Atem punched, kicked, and head-butted. In other words, he was clobbering all eight men without even trying. She smiled to herself as she turned another corner out of sight.

Pretty soon, the men in Dean's gang realized that they were fighting a losing battle and started to run off one by one. Pretty soon it was just Dean and Atem. Atem smiled at the expression Dean had. He was shocked that Atem had managed to face eight full grown men by himself and have only a few scratches.

"Care to take me on, or do you wish to run away in humiliation just like your friends did."

Dean growled. He had murder in his eyes and they were set on him. "Never!" Before Atem knew it, Dean had charged at him and gave him a direct punch in the stomach. The impact knocked the wind out of Atem. Dean followed the punch with a kick to the head. Atem was knocked off his feet and landed hard. His head was pounding, but it didn't hurt quite as badly as the headache from earlier.

Dean just started laughing. "And you were so full of yourself too! I guess the guys were awfully weak for you to get beaten so easily by me."

Atem spit blood that had gotten into his mouth and wiped it with the back of his hand with a chuckle.

"W-What are you laughing about?" Dean asked as Atem got to his feet. Atem just smiled at him.

"I have to say that was pretty good, hitting my diaphragm before kicking my head to knock me out. It was good except that I'm still conscious." He popped his knuckles. "Now let me show you my skills." As quick as lighting, Atem got behind Dean and hit him at a point just below his skull. The strike hit a pressure point and Atem watched as Dean collapsed unconscious. Atem was breathing heavily and the red in his eyes faded away. His hands fell to his pockets as he pulled out a cell phone.

* * *

"Mana! Where have you been?"

"Do you realize how dark it's gotten?"

"There's a gang roaming around here!"

Mana, hidding her injured wrist, just answered, "Well it's already too late to avoid them..."

"Forget about that. What happened to your wrist?" Diane had popped up from behind her and had noticed how swollen it was.

Mana was grateful that there were no customers around to see the state she was in when she and Casey finally came in through the door of the diner. She was very grateful indeed. As Luke bandaged her wrist up (Martha was too busy comforting a crying Casey), she explained everything that had happened since leaving Lizzie's place; it slipped her mind to mention that it was Atem that had helped her escape. At the end, she bowed her head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Martha. If I hadn't been so careless, none of this would have happened. Casey wouldn't have been put in that situation." Mana couldn't even look at Martha. She knew that staying at the park was a bad idea and it was costing her. To her surprise, Martha took her into a hug.

"What matters now is that you and Casey are safe and out of danger. Your first priority was to protect Casey and I'm very proud of you for that. So thank you." Mana looked up at her boss with tears in her eyes. She wiped them away with a smile on her face.

"By the way, who was the one that saved you?" Diane asked.

"Oh… Well, it was – "

Mana never finished answering as the door's bell rang, turning everyone attention to the newcomer.

"Atem!" Martha was the first one to reach him.

Atem just gave one of his assuring smiles. Mana managed to look around Martha and saw that the red she had seen before was gone. Had she just imagined it? She also noticed that he seemed pale and that there was fear in his eyes.

"What brings you here?"

"Some ladies got into some trouble and I was just helping them out. I came over to check up on them to see how they were doing."

"Atem!" Mana watched as Casey rushed up and hugged Atem around the waist. "Are you okay? Did the bad guys hurt you?"

For a moment, Mana couldn't figure out why Casey was acting so friendly towards him. Then she figured the obvious. If Martha knew Atem, then it was obvious Casey would know him. And there was no doubt Lizzie knew him and his family too.

"Not really. A small punch in the stomach, but nothing more." Clutching his waist tightly, Casey looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"So you are hurt! Does it hurt at all?" Atem sighed with a smile on his face and got down on his knees so that he was at Casey's eye level.

"You don't have to worry about me, Casey. Your safety is a bit more important that mine right now. I wouldn't worry about my wellbeing. Let's worry about yours, okay?"

"Okay." Casey hugged Atem again, who hugged her back with hesitation. Mana was completely stunned by what she was seeing. She was witnessing a whole new side of Atem. The side that loved kids, the same way she loved them. He knew exactly what to say to them and how to act towards them too. He was a natural at it. Diane leaned over towards her in a whisper.

"So this is Atem. He's cute, isn't he?"

Mana blushed. "D-Diane. Now's not exactly the best time to be checking a guy out."

"Well he is! And who said I was checking him out for myself?" Mana turned to look back at Atem again. He was kind of cute…

Atem got to his feet. "I called the police and they were taking the leader away when I took off. An officer will be here to do questioning, if that's okay."

Martha looked stunned. "I'm surprised you were able to."

"So am I. But I did what I had to."

Mana was confused. Martha was surprised that he was able to call the police? What was so surprising about it? She looked towards the others and saw that they were just as confused as she was, but they didn't seem to be curious about it like she was. Then she remembered the fear she saw in his eyes and the realization hit her like a boulder.

"Well, they can question away. The soon we get this behind us, the better." Martha finally said, shaking her head. Atem nodded. A sudden shot of pain made him clutch his head in agony. When he pulled it away, he saw blood on it. Next thing he knew, he felt woozy and his vision began to go blur.

Mana stared at Atem with concern. Why did he look pale all of a sudden? Unless…

"Ah!" She quickly rushed over and grabbed him as he collapsed. She fell to her knees under his weight.

She heard the others shouting, but she didn't hear them. She was more worried about Atem, who was out cold. She felt his forehead to check for fever only to come in contact with something cold and wet. She pulled away surprised; she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from screaming. There was blood on her hand. She reacted.

"Somebody call an ambulance! He needs help!"

_

* * *

_

Atem: You knocked me unconscious?

_JAGartist__: I had thought about doing this differently, but I thought this way would be better._

_Atem: By having me go out cold?_

_JAGartist__: To put it simple: yeah pretty much._

_Atem: (sighs)_


	8. Nice to Meet You Again

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Nice to Meet You Again ||

* * *

JAGartist: Okay. Last time we left off, Atem had gotten into a fight with this guy called Dean and took a hit to the head, causing him to go unconscious.

Atem: I wouldn't have had you written it differently.

Mana: Well she's the author, so the decision is hers to make.

JAGartist: Once again Mana, thank you.

Mana: Though it was a little pushy with the knock out and all.

Atem: Whose side are you on anyway?

Mana: I'm just stating the obvious.

JAGartist: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its contents.

* * *

Mana was waiting outside Atem's room with the others, her arm bandaged up properly (the doctor had commented how well Luke had wrapped it earlier). In Atem's room, the doctor was, or had, explaining what had happened to his family and friends who had come after Martha had phoned them about what happened. It was the same thing he had told them earlier.

There were two reasons he had collapsed. The first was because of his head. He had taken a hit to it, causing a concussion. The other was from exhaustion, though from what Mana didn't know.

She had caught glimpses of Atem's friends and family as they came in. Two of the three young men there and the young girl that was with them were most likely his friends. The first boy had blond hair and brown eyes. The other one had dark brown hair and brown eyes that went in a spike in the front. The girl also had brown hair, her eyes were blue. She was very beautiful in Mana's eyes. Almost like a dancer.

There was also an older woman, whom she guessed was Atem's mother. The elderly man that was with her was probably his grandfather or something. But it was the other young man that surprised her most.

He looked almost exactly like Atem. Other than his facial features and the bits of hair that didn't go up along the spikes in his hair, she realized that this must have been Atem's brother. She couldn't figure out though if he was younger than him or if the two were actually twins. It was hard to say.

Of course, they were rushed into Atem's room before she could get any names. She swore that Atem's brother had given her a smile before going in though.

That was almost an hour ago. No doubt they were now just visiting the patient. Mana just stared down at her feet as she waited. Diane took a seat next to her, grabbing her shoulder with her arm.

"Hey, come on. The doctor said he was fine. You know that."

"I know. It's just… he wouldn't be like this if I had been more careful."

"Mana, you can't go and blame yourself. He was defending you and Casey."

"That's my point. I'm involved. I should have brought Casey straight to the diner instead of lingering. Then none of this would be happening…"

Diane pulled Mana into a hug. "I told you. Don't worry about it. If he didn't care he could have just left you there."

"The only reason he was there was because of Casey."

"Remember what he said in the diner? He wanted to make sure _two _ladies were okay. He was worried about you too."

Mana looked towards her friend in surprise when the door opened. Mrs. Mutou and the old man stepped out along with the doctor. Martha walked up to them. "So how's he doing?"

The old man just huffed. "Being stubborn, as always."

Martha laughed. "Is that so? He was always the stubborn kind."

Mana cast her eyes away. She didn't have the heart to laugh, let alone even look at his family. How could she? She was the reason he was in the hospital in the first place.

"So, Solomon, what are you two going to do?"

"We're going to head home. Atem insisted we did. Yugi and his friends are coming as soon as they're done."

"Well I guess we should too. Mana, do you need a ride home?" Mana looked up in surprise. Martha, Mrs. Mutou, and the old man, Solomon, looking at her. She looked away. "No… Diane's mom is giving us a ride as soon as she gets here…" Anyone could sense the sorrow that was in her voice.

"Alright then. Come on, boys. There's no need for you two to stay here to. I'll give you a ride."

"Alright, Boss."

"Later, Mana. Night, Diane."

Mrs. Mutou and Solomon left, followed by Martha and the boys. Diane and Mana were the only ones left. A few minutes later, Atem's friends came out. They hardly noticed Mana as they walked back. Mana highly believed that they hadn't even seen her. Atem's brother followed close behind, but he spotted Mana and stopped in front of her.

"I want to thank you for helping my brother. If you hadn't responded like you did, he could have ended up worse." Mana looked up. Atem and his brother, Yugi she now knew as his name, looked very similar.

"Yugi! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming!"

Yugi gave a smile, the same one he gave Mana earlier. "He said he's waiting for someone. But I wouldn't know who." He winked and rushed off to join his friends.

Diane tapped on her shoulder. She leaned in and whispered in Mana's ear. "Go on. Mom's going to be a while, so you should go and talk to him. At least thank the guy who saved you." Mana stared at her friend in awes. Diane was right. Atem did deserve a thank you at the very least.

Mana got to her feet and walked straight towards the door, but hesitated to open it. She wasn't sure how he would react. She still believed it was her fault he was here. For some reason, she began to believe that it should have been her on the other side of the door on a hospital bed, not him. For a moment, she had second thoughts about going in. Then she remembered what he had said to her earlier.

"_You shouldn't be worrying about what others will think of you."_

Those words rang in her head. She finally understood that first part and she had to act on it. She placed a hand on the door knob and turned it. The door opened with ease. She quickly popped her head in and looked around.

The room was basically empty. The only patient that was in the room was Atem and he hadn't noticed the door was open. His attention was towards the book in his hands. It was, Mana realized, the same one he had carried that morning. _I guess his family brought it know he'd want to read it._

She took a deep breath and entered, closing the door behind her. Slowly and hesitantly, she walked up to him and stopped when she was only feet from him. She decided to keep her distance. For a moment, Atem still hadn't noticed her, so she decided to wait until he noticed her. It didn't take long.

"So how are you doing?" He hadn't looked up from his book. Mana didn't answer. She was more horrified than surprised. Here was Atem, in a hospital bed, but he was asking how _she _was doing. She should be the one asking him that question, not the other way around. Mana couldn't hold her tears back anymore.

Atem cast his eyes towards Mana in surprise when he heard a sob. She was crying. But why? Was she crying for him?

"Okay, I'm lost. Did I do something wrong?"

Mana shook her head and whipped her tears away or at least tried to. "That's not it. – *hiccup* - It's just that – *hiccup* - I should be asking you if – *hiccup* - you're okay – *hiccup* – Not the other way around. – *hiccup*" By time point, she had literally become a tear-making machine.

Atem couldn't help but feel guilty. Here she was crying over him ever after how he treated her this morning. She was crying because of him.

"Why?"

"Huh? – *hiccup*" Mana looked up surprised. His eyes were hidden by his bangs.

"Why are crying over me? Even though I treated you like trash."

Mana was shocked by his words. Why was he apologizing? Now that she thought about it, he wasn't looking at her. More like trying to keep his eyes from being revealed. Was he… was he ashamed to look at her? Was he ashamed for earlier.

"If came here to yell at me, be my guest. I deserve every blow I get. I'm sort of glad that man hit me."

_He's upset for his behavior towards me earlier… _Without thinking, Mana grabbed the chair nearest her and took a seat in it. She wiped away what tears she had.

"No, I came to thank you. You saved my life and I owe you at least that."

Atem gasped. He willed himself to look at her. She was smiling, at him of all people. "Well, you're welcome."

"And I accept your apology."

"My apology?"

"Yeah, for your behavior earlier."

Atem couldn't help but smile. Even after all that she had the heart to forgive him. He held out his hand. "Let's start over from the beginning, okay?"

Mana looked at him with a surprised expression, but nodded with a smile. "Hello. My name is Mana, Mana Trilton. It's nice to meet you." She took his hand into her own and shook it.

Atem shook back. "I'm Atem Y. Mutou. It's a pleasure to meet you as well." When he had said his name, Mana had given him a blank look. "What?"

"Well, I'm just wondering. What does the 'Y' in your name stand for?"

"It's Yami. It means 'darkness'."

"Oh…" Atem laughed at her expression of realization. This didn't please Mana. "Well at least I don't have a middle name that means 'darkness'!"

Atem wiped away tears from his eyes. "That's true. But I really don't mind." Then for no particular reason, he started laughing again. And this time Mana couldn't help but start laughing as well.

Meanwhile, Diane had witnessed everything that had occurred. When they started laughing, she smiled. "I could be wrong, but I think the bud of friendship has just been born. I wonder if it'll bloom into the blossom of love. Well…" She pulled away from the door and stood up right. "I guess only time can tell. I can't wait to see how this love story is going to play out."

Of course, this was what Diane was assuming was going to happen. With her, she made everything into a story. Especially when it came to Mana.

She chuckled to herself.

_

* * *

_

Atem: That was an odd way to end a chapter.

_JAGartist: To be honest, I wanted Diane to say something else._

_Diane: What did you want me to say?_

_JAGartist: It was "Now I could be wrong, but I think we may be witnessing the beginnings of love here."_

_Mana: Hold on. Where have I heard that line before…?_

_JAGartist: It was Kyoya's last line in the first episode of OHSHC. Then I thought about how they're just friends for now and how that line wouldn't fit so well this early in the story, so I changed it to bud of friendship and stuff._

_Atem: By the way, how'd Diane get in here?_

_Diane: I heard you were making small talk before and after each chapter and I wanted in on the fun._

_Atem: Is that the only reason?_

_Diane: No! I want to see what happens between you two and make an opinion about it. Ah! Young love…_

_Atem: (madly blushing) W-We're nowhere near anything dealing with romance! Don't start getting these crazy ideas in your head now!_


	9. Who is She

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Who is She ||

* * *

JAGartist: Hello, people of FF! Sorry that I haven't been posting anything for a while now. Life's been busy, but here I am.

Atem: You really need to update some of these. It's been, what, one – two months now?

JAGartist: Maybe about three? But it's like I said, I've been busy.

Mana: Life has been pretty tough for a while now.

Diane: So be nice.

JAGartist: Thank you, Mana and Diane. You're very understanding, as usual.

Atem: Why am I always the bad guy?

* * *

Two days went by since Mana's friendship with Atem began. But due to work and the homework she got over the break, her visits were limited to practically nothing.

During the times Mana did visiting, she had learned a few interesting facts about Atem. He had a twin brother name Yugi and three friends from high school he hung out with. Their names were Téa, Joey, and Tristan, the three she saw at the hospital. He was also a second year college student who took homing arrangements, along with Yugi, at his grandfather's game shop. In exchanged, Atem and Yugi would help around in the store when they weren't busy with school. His favorite books involved fantasy and mystery, his favorite food was soba, and he planned on taking over the game shop when he graduated so his grandfather could retire and because he wanted to. There was one thing that still bugged her though.

At one time, she asked Atem about what Martha said about his relationship with the police. He had said nothing and turned away as though worried about her reaction if he told. After a few awkward minutes, Mana realized she probably wasn't in the right to ask and quickly changed the subject. She never asked about it to anyone after that.

Mana sighed. _I haven't seen him since I asked that question. I left soon afterwards. Maybe he's still mad at me for asking. I was only curious, but I guess it was too personal a question._

"Mana? You alright?" Mana felt a dull pain in her forehead as Diane flicked it. "You've been staring into space for a while now. Is something bothering you?" Mana had thought about talking to Diane about it, but she felt it was too personal to talk about.

"No, it's nothing. Just a bit tired."

Diane placed the back of her hand against Mana's forehead. "With homework and working here, I can understand why. You feel a bit clammy." She removed her hand. "Maybe you should take the day off."

Mana shook her head. "I'll be fine. If I start feeling worse, I'll go home. Satisfied?"

After a moment's hesitation, Diane nodded in agreement. "Alright, let me know if you start feeling sick."

The bell rang as the door to the diner opened; Diane turned to face the newcomer and said, "I'm sorry, but we're not op- oh!" She gave a wicked smile and nudged Mana. "Hey, look who's here." Mana turned and gasped.

"Atem!" Sure enough, there he stood. A small bandage still circled around his head, but it was hardly noticeable. Mana's cry brought Martha running from the back, but she only smiled when she saw the reason.

"Well, well, if it isn't our little hero." Atem blushed at the compliment.

"I'm no hero. I just did what anyone would do."

Martha chuckled. "Just like you to deny the inevitable. Anyways, how are you doing and when did you get released."

The blush vanished and Atem stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I'm fine and I was released the other night. I would have called, but I guess it slipped our minds. Sorry about that."

Martha shook her head. "Don't worry over it." She pulled out a menu from a shelf behind the counter. "Since you're here, you might as well as order something. It's on the house, as a thank you."

Atem shook his head, but took a seat anyway. "That's not necessary. I didn't do anything special."

"Nothing special, my butt," said Martha as she placed the menu down in front of him. "Not only did you protect Casey, but you went out of your way to protect one of my girls too. You're probably one of the few decent men this town still has."

Atem chuckled. Mana had watched this all unfold in front of her and she smiled. She had felt uncomfortable since the incident, but having Atem in her presence made her feel safe.

She looked him over. He had worn a simple gray vest worn over a black, long-sleeved shirt with blue pants. It was pretty warm for November, so wearing a light outfit didn't seem too out of order. Mana herself had decided to wear her favorite outfit because of the current weather.

From her spot, Mana kept her eyes on Atem while he and Martha were having a friendly argument about the free meal he was offered. Despite her efforts, her eyes kept traveling to his lips. A part of her wanted nothing more than to "taste" them. However, the reasonable side of her kept saying that she should never have such thoughts. The lust side of her was winning though. The more she thought about it, the more she blushed.

"Uh, Mana, are you alright? You're face is really red."

Mana gasped and stuttered. "N-No! I-I'm fine!"

Diane smirked. "Sure you are and that's why you've been watching Atem so intensely. Is my little angel having naughty thoughts?"

Mana gasped. "D-Diane! I can't believe you said that!"

"Oh? So it's really true? Oh, Greg, did you hear that?" Diane grabbed Mana and pulled her into a hug like a mother would. "Our little Mana's becoming a woman. How fast do they grow?" She started wailing. "Don't leave us like this, Mana! You still have so much to do in your life and so many places to see! Wait just a little bit long, sweetie."

If she wasn't blushing before, she was beet red now. "D-Diane! Don't say such things! Don't blab stuff out without knowing for sure!" That only made Diane squeeze harder. "Diane, I can't breathe!"

Martha and Atem had turned their heads in surprise when they heard ruckus, but Martha only shook her head, and Atem looked on confused. "Do… Do we want to know?"

Martha chuckled. "I doubt it." She wiped a tear away. "But I have to say, I've never seen Mana this happy before. In all my years, she always tried to hid behind a smile." She winked at the young tri-haired man. "Perhaps you've opened her up a bit, and maybe she'll open your heart again." The man only scolded at her as she walked off laughing.

Even then, Atem couldn't help but smile. Mana had a different aura surrounding her. It wasn't that much different than before, but the change was there. He mumbled under his breath from Martha's comment, hardly believing he had anything to do with the change in atmosphere around her.

If he did believe it, even a little bit, that thought quickly vanished as he suddenly stood up after looking out the window. This didn't go unnoticed by Mana. Her eyes averted to where he was staring.

A young girl not that much older than her was heading straight towards the café. Next thing Mana knew, Atem had rushed from his booth and jumped over the counter out of sight just as the door opened. Mana pulled herself away from Diane and stepped behind the counter to wipe it as the girl looked around. Mana's eyes turned towards the hiding Atem, who placed his finger against his lips with an expression of desperation. There was something about that girl that bothered him and he didn't want to deal with it. She showed no reaction to agree, but her eyes said enough. It was surprise for Mana to see Atem cower like that, but she didn't show her disapproval.

"Hello, welcome to Martha's House. May we help you?" The girl finished her scan of the restaurant and had a disappointed expression on her face.

"Aw… I was so sure he was here." She scanned the restaurant again and scowled. "Oh well. I must have imagined it. He wouldn't come to a tacky place like this anyway." Mana tensed up with the girl's comment, as did Diane and Greg who heard as well.

Mana hoped that she would leave then and there, but to no avail. The girl spotted Mana watching her and walked up to the counter. "I hate to be a bother, but there didn't happen to be a man here, was there?" She leaned up against the counter. "He had spiked, tri-colored hair, violet eyes, and about five foot four." As she spoke, Mana got a good look at the girl in front of her. She was about the same height as Atem, had brown eyes, and her black hair was held up in two buns with bits of hair hanging loose in front. _She's really pretty… _Mana thought to herself. But when the girl opened her mouth, she became just downright annoying. She could sort of understand why even Atem would hide from her. That and the fact she had way too much perfume on. There was so much that even Mana had to cough and tried to sway the smell away with no success. Vivian didn't notice and continued talking.

Eventually, Mana just shook her head. "Sorry, it's been only us workers in here." Her body shook, like it always did when she lied. For a moment, the girl looked like she was going to call Mana out. Eventually, she shrugged and said, "Too bad. I thought he was here, but I guess I was just seeing things." Mana cleared her throat.

"Perhaps we can take a message in case someone with that description stops by?" Mana suggested, trying her best to keep calm. The young woman smiled. "Would you? That's would be just awesome." She winked. "If you happen to see him, tell him that Vivian Wong is looking for him. It's not nice to be in town and not say hi to his girlfriend." Mana swore she heard a mirror crack somewhere.

"G-Girlfriend?" The woman, Vivian, nodded. "That's right. Oh, and tell him to stop by my place sometime. I'll be waiting." She giggled and was soon out the door. Once she was sure she wasn't coming back, Mana sighed.

"I thought I was going to die." She fell to her knees and placed her head against the counter in relief. "I'm surprised she didn't call me out." She managed to get to her feet. "You can come now; she's gone."

Atem sighed with relief as he appeared from behind the counter. "Good. I thought she would never leave. Thanks." He looked towards Mana and was surprised to see hurt in her eyes. He sighed. "Listen. Don't believe a word she says. If there's one thing she's never going to be, it's my girlfriend. She's not even a friend." It didn't seem to cheer her up.

"Besides, why are you so upset? It's not like we're dating or something."

Mana snapped out of her gloomy cloud hearing those words. _That's right. It's not like I'm his girlfriend or something. So… why am I getting so upset about this? Besides, it's not like he would date me anyway._ She straightened up and cleared her throat. "You're right. What am I thinking? It's none of my business of who you date." Though her gloominess was gone, the venom in her tone wasn't.

"Wow…" Diane said, backing away. "She claims to not be jealous, but from her tone I wonder." She sighed. "Who was she anyway?"

"That's a good question…" Mana mumbled and like everyone else there stared at Atem for answers.

_This isn't comfortable… _he thought. He finally got tired of the hungry stares and gave in. He sighed. "Her name is Vivian-"

"We already know that, Einstein." Greg said, leaning against his broom.

"Hm! Anyways, she's just this girl I met back in high school. Hey, Mana?" He turned to face the bushed haired teen. "You go to Domino High, right?"

Mana nodded. "Yeah, it's my second year there and my last. Diane and I are graduating this year."

"I see, but have you heard about the fan club about me there?" Mana thought about it for a moment and shook her head.

"I've heard about something like that, but I had no idea it was about you." "I have!" Diane shouted, her hand raised high in the air. She blushed when she realized everyone was staring at her like she was crazy. "S-Sorry. It's just that…" She scratched her head. "Patty's in that club and she told me about it."

"Huh?" Mana said. Diane sighed. "Weren't you listening when she was talking about it, Mana?" Her expression answered the question. Diane shook her head in disappointment. "According to Patty, this fan club was started about five years ago, focusing on this kid who was a sophomore at the time. He was really popular and the club continued even after he graduated. I presume…" She pointed a finger towards Atem. "That was you."

"It's sad, but true." Atem admitted, leaning his arms against the counter. "That's the reason why I sometimes skipped classes, just so I wouldn't have to deal with them."

"You? Seriously?" Greg leaned forward on his broom. "Martha told me a bit about you and she said you were no slacker."

"Hm! I never slacked! I just didn't want to mess with a bunch of stinking school girls who didn't even know me." _Of course, that's still the case now… _He sighed. "You try going to school with people staring at you all the time."

Mana cast her eyes downward. _Yes… I do. Greatly._

"I suppose that would make sense. I'd do the same thing if it were me," Greg admitted. Luke popped his head from the door leading into the kitchen and coldly said, "You used to skip class all the time, Greg."

His friend only turned to him with a smile and said, "Well, so did you. Want to argue about it?" This got everyone laughing. Eventually, Diane spoke. "I won't worry about it too much though. I'm sure that Vivian girl will give up once Atem and Mana get toge- Oh! I mean… I'm sure she'll give it up eventually."

Atem and Mana gave looks of suspicious, but both were blushing none the less. Diane laughed like a rich lady would at their expression.

The sound of a hand clap filled the air. "Well, enough of that!" Martha said. "We're just about ready to open up for today. And Luke, I believe you have an order to fill."

"Yes, Ma'am." Luke said mockingly, saluting as he entered the kitchen. Martha shook her head and looked towards Atem. "And last time I checked, Atem, customers were not allowed behind the counter."

Atem chuckled and headed back to his seat. Mana smiled, but inside, she was confused. _I still don't get it. I got this… ugly feeling in my stomach when Vivian said all that stuff about being with Atem and all that. I know he said that they weren't together, but… _She flipped the open sign. _Then why do I have that feeling? It's not like Atem and I are a couple or something… right?_

_

* * *

_

JAGartist: Sorry that I haven't been updating the last few months. Since I figured out Photoshop, I've been addicted to it. Hehehehe.

_Atem: Nice of you to come back to us._

_JAGartist: Yeah, yeah. There's that and I've had a major writer's block on the latest chapter of every single one of my stories. I'll try to update my others stories at least once in the next couple weeks, but I can't promise anything._

_Mana: Awe. We've missed you though._

_JAGartist: I've missed you too. And thanks to this addiction I've had since summer, I'm probably going to post a new story soon (someone non-Yu-gi-oh non the least). I keep changing the chapters though, so it'll be a while._

_Diane: Oh man. And we were just getting to the good part._

_Atem: Even though this chapter feels like a filler._

_JAGartist: For once, we agree on something!_

_Mana and DianeL Guess we'll be seeing you around! Bye!_


	10. Present Feeling and Past Fear

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Present Feeling and Past Fear ||

* * *

JAGartist: Hello, I'm back! I'm not dead!

Atem: You just keep coming back from the dead, don't you?

JAGartist: You say that like it's your fault or something…

Mana: Welcome back!

Diane: Nice to see you!

JAGartist: Thank you, you two! At least someone cares.

Atem: … What?

* * *

"I have a question."

"Hmm? What is it?" For unknown reasons, Atem had hung around the café even after breakfast was pass. Diane saw it as having a meaning of some sort.

"Looks like someone's got their eye on you," Diane had said.

"Diane, stop it!" Mana answered back,

Of course, it didn't look that way to Mana as he socialized with everyone. At least that was the case until now. It was past closing time.

"If you only work evenings, then why did you come in to work all day today?" It was strange question to ask in Mana's head, but a reasonable one.

"I usually do work evenings because of school, but since we're on break, I can work mornings, too," she asked.

"And the others?"

"Greg, Luke, and Diane came in because people called off."

"Oh." The way Mana had answered him sounded like it was a common subject. In the short time that he had known Mana, he had learned quite a bit about her, many which they had in common. The most surprising was that her parents didn't even know that she had a job and that she's had it for a couple years now. _Now that I think about it, she's barely mentioned her parents at all. I wonder why…_

He had thought about bringing the subject up, but he remembered how Mana seemed colder when she first mentioned them. In the end, he decided to leave it be.

"Mana! Can you come here a second?" Diane said, pointing her head through the door leading into the backroom. Atem watched Mana go and it was only when she was gone did he snap to.

_What am I doing?_His smile faded and he leaned back. _I can't be doing this. Especially after…_

"Atem?" The young man looked up. Martha. "You're bugged about something, aren't you?"

Atem turned his head upward. "How can you tell?"

"You have that look. I've known you and Yugi long enough to know when you're worried."

Atem couldn't help but chuckle. That was Martha for you, always having the last word period. He closed his eyes. "I'm just worried I'm getting to close to her." He was talking about Mana.

Martha tilted her head. "So? What's wrong with that? It's not like she's got a boyfriend already, this I know for sure."

"You know better than anyone here why that worries me." He closed his eyes. "It's just…"

A lightbulb lit up in Martha head. "Oh, I know what you're talking about. You're talking about…" _What happened two years ago._

"I promised I would never get close to anyone," Atem replied, not moving from his position. "Not after what happened." Old memories flashed through his mind as he spoke. The smell of rain, the sight of the body, the feeling of blood, he remembered it all. He couldn't forget, ever.

"Atem," Martha started, taking a seat in front of him. "That was two years ago. Don't you think you've punished yourself enough?"

He only sighed and leaned over, cupping his face in his hands. "How can I move on? I did the one crime I swore I'd never do. How can I think about relationships when 'that person' will never have one himself?"

There was a moment of silence. Martha stared at Atem's in-the-dumps form with sad eyes. _Atem… you can't let yourself forget, can you. Isn't it time to move on with your life? I want that for you. And I know that Yugi, your friends, and your mother and grandfather want that too. Why can't you see that?_

She knew there was no point in bringing it back up, so a change of subject was in the matter. "Atem, since you're still here, I want you to do me a favor."

* * *

The girls walked arm in arm, Atem walking solo behind them. While Mana was just trying to have a relaxing walk home, Diane was trying to come up with another one of her skims. "This is probably the best opportunity anyone could ask for!" Diane whispered in Mana's ear.

"Whatever you're thinking, Diane, don't. I want no part of whatever you're thinking." Mana commented.

"What's the matter? Don't you like being mischievous?" Diane started, making a valid point.

Mana scorned her. "Not with you, I don't. Your idea of being a mischief is sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"

Diane made a fake swoon. "You break my heart. I feel faint…"

"The guilt act isn't going to work, Diane," Mana calmly stated, and Diane stood up straight again.

"Oh, you're no fun anymore." Diane pouted.

Atem stayed a distance away from Mana and Diane. He didn't how what they were talking about, and he particularly didn't care. He had agreed to walk the girls home because of what happened before, but that didn't mean he had to socialize. In his head, the only reason he communicated with Mana while he was in the hospital was because she had been upset by what happened. That's what he had made himself believe anyway.

Though the memory of Mana crying that night in the hospital made him doubt himself. The last thing he wanted was to get close to someone, but there was something about Mana that he couldn't keep his distance from. When he saw her tears, an unfamiliar something inside him stirred.

The question was _what_?

"Hey, Pretty Boy!" The call snapped him from his thoughts. Diane and Mana were waiting at the end of the path for him, Diane tapping her foot impatiently. "We haven't got all day! At this rate, I'll be 100 by the time we get home!"

"You're exaggerating again, Diane," Mana said with an annoyed look. Atem stared.

The sun that shined on her face seemed to make her glow. Her tan skin appeared radiant and her hair looked like silk. But most of all, her eyes shined once more like the ocean, just like before. He shook the thoughts out of his head. _Don't be stupid, _he thought to himself.

_You can't love… you can't even have a crush… It's not possible for someone like you…_

* * *

"There you are, Mana!" A middle-aged woman stood at the door, her arms criss-crossed with a finger on her right hand tapping her arm and the left holding a ladle. Atem had never seen a woman he was meeting so crossed before. Then he remembered Vivian. In his head, Vivian was a lot worse than this woman.

Mana groaned. "Oh, you're home." The connection clicked for Atem. The blond woman standing on the steps in front of him looked nothing like Mana with her blue eyes, blond hair, stern expression. Though like Mana, she seemed to carry herself, though with more dignity and grace it seemed.

"Yes, I'm home. I do happen to live here, _too_," the woman answered with emphasize on the "too". The tone of the statement made Atem wonder just how often Mana had been told that sentence. Based on the glares they were giving each other, he concluded that they didn't get along very well.

He flinched when the woman's glare fell upon him. Then the strangest thing happened. The woman's face softened, almost appearing surprised. "You're…" she started to say, but stopped herself. She shook her head, apparently disagreeing with herself.

_What was…_ Atem stopped his own though and shook his head, too. No point worrying about it. _Probably mistaken identity_, he thought.

"And whose this?" the woman asked, going back to her strict tone and expression.

"Well, t-this…" Mana started, "This is… uh…"

"My cousin!" Diane finally said, suddenly wrapping her arms around the man's left without warning. That definitely caught Atem off guard.

"What, what?" he said, a stunned look on his face.

"Your… cousin, huh?" the woman continued. "I didn't know you had a cousin."

Diane nodded. "Didn't I mention him before? He's quite the gentleman, right Atem?" She squeezed tightly on his arm. It was a warning to play along or pay the price. Atem swallowed his pride.

"Y-Yes. Yes we are. My name is Atem. Atem Mutou. It's a pleasure," Atem said with a nervous smile. He had always been good at lying through his teeth, but something about this woman made it rather difficult. The woman glared at the two; it almost looked like she could see right through their lie. Eventually though…

"My name is Sasha, Mana's mother."

"You're not my mother! You're just Dad's wife!" Mana bellowed, and without as much as a goodbye to Diane or Atem, she stormed pasted Sasha and into the apartment. To Atem's surprise, she sighed when Mana was gone.

"That girl…" She casted her softened eyes towards the duo in front of her. "Thanks for escorting her back here, Mr. Atem," She said. "Though I have to say, your name sounds really familiar…"

This made Atem completely forget Mana's storm out earlier. "I've heard a similar name a few years ago, in the news I think."

Atem started to go pale. _Why of all times…_

'_Blood… Guilt… Revenge…'_

"But you're too much of a gentleman to be the same person. I was mistaken," she answered. Realizing he had been holding his breath, he started to breath easily, but memories of the past plagued his mind still.

"W-We should go," Atem said, turning his face away. "I'd better get Diane home before it gets dark. Excuse us."

Diane had no say when she was dragged away by Atem, despite it being that she hadn't let go of him. Atem could feel Sasha's eyes staring at his back as though burning it. Diane had asked what that had been about, but Atem chose not to answer. He could bring himself to talk to anyone, not after that.

Sasha obviously had mistaken him for someone else the first time (he couldn't think of anyone who he could be mistaken for other than Yugi), but he knew she knew who he was the second time she claimed mistaken identity.

_She knows I was in the news… she knows what I've done… Now I know I don't deserve anything… People will remember me for what I've done, not for who I am now…_

_The blood, the guilt, and the past will never be forgotten… not for my happiness…_

* * *

_Atem: Where have you been anyway?_

_JAGartist: Oh, here and there. *to herself* Getting into TOV and Hetalia…_

_Atem: What was that?_

_JAGartist: Getting stuck with school work and tests!_

_Atem: Uh huh. Sure._

_JAGartist: I have! Senior year has kept me busy! I hardly have time to draw anymore either!_

_Atem: Just make sure you update every now and then._

_JAGartist: Whatever you say._

_Atem: You're going to slack again, aren't you._


	11. Reflection

|| Til Death Do We Part ||

|| Reflection ||

* * *

JAGartist: Well, I'm still alive and posting this just in time for the New Year.

Diane/Mana: That's great!

Atem: About time.

JAGartist: But after this-

Mana: You people know the disclaimer!

Diane: Now read!

JAGartist: Oh boy…

Atem: ?

* * *

Atem stared up towards the ceiling, his hands lying folded behind his head. Yugi and their friends had been in the main house when he got home, but rather than join them in their games (they were occupied with a new card game), he instead decided to just go to bed early. Of course, the encounter with Sasha prevented him peaceful sleep, so he had occupied his time just looking up towards the ceiling, hoping that he'd fall asleep after staring at it long enough.

That was three hours ago. He remembered someone coming into the room sometime after he got back, but when he tried to eat the pizza they left, his stomach protested. Now it lied cold and forgotten on his desk.

It was Sasha's statement that kept him awake. Despite her rejection of the idea, he knew she knew. She knew who he was. She knew what he did. And the thought sent chills down the man's spine. At the same time, as he was thinking about it, there was something very familiar about her, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

He pushed Sasha's words from his mind and turned his thoughts towards Mana's outburst. He knew from the short time he had known her that she wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind (either than or she was a big blabber mouth), yet he was surprised to see her lose her temper so easily. Based on her reaction though, it was obvious Sasha was Mana's stepmother, and Mana didn't appear to get along with the older woman at all.

_They're both too stubborn for their own good_, Atem thought. He huffed in annoyance. _Hmm! Women._

* * *

The first thing Mana did when she got inside the apartment was run to her room, slammed the door behind her, and screamed into a pillow to vent out the anger she possessed. She kept at it until her throat became dry and scratch and was unable to continue. She took several deep breaths as she continued to control her anger. She usually didn't get so upset easily, but when it came to Sasha, she lost it. Mana blushed.

"I can't believe I let Diane see me like that… again."She sighed as he fell backwards onto her bed, her arms lying over the pillow on her stomach. "Andthen there's Atem... I can't believe that I-" She gasped and sat up with a start.

"Wait! Why do I care what Atem thinks!"

_You do care. You're worried he'll think differently of you. _Her conscience answered.

"It's not like he likes me anyway!"

_But you like him, don't you._

"Why would I like someone like him? He's insensitive, boring, and… and… and he's a jerk!"

_But he's also kind at times, always has something to say, and listens whenever you speak. And don't forget he saved you once, and you were merely strangers then._

"He never even tells me about his life at home."

_You haven't either. He didn't know about you and Sasha's relationship. He doesn't know of the one you and Dad have._

Mana closed her eyes and huffed as she fell back against her pillow. Her head was telling her she didn't care for Atem, yet her heart said otherwise. It was true he possessed a lot of bad qualities, even keeping his past a secret from her even after been asked about it. Not that she was any better. Even so, she couldn't tell him much of anything from her own past, considering she knew practically nothing about it anymore. She was a stranger to her own life.

* * *

A knock at Atem's door snapped him from his thoughts, and he turned his head just as the door opened and Yugi stuck his head in. His twin's eyes caught sight of the uneaten pizza before turning back towards him.

"Hey, Atem? You awake?"

"Yeah." Atem sat up. "What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Martha's café tomorrow. Since it's the break and you found Martha's restaurant, we figured we'd check it out," the man answered.

Atem thought about it for a moment. He could say no, and let his friends go on their own; that way, he wouldn't have to see Mana, or deal with Diana (who had bugged him until he had dropped her off about Sasha's statement). On the other hand, he didn't want to seem like a weak person considering how freaked out he had gotten in front of her. And considering he had nothing better to do…

"I'm in," Atem finally answered, pasting a smile on Yugi's face.

"Great! Let's head there about ten or so."

Atem couldn't help but smile; when Yugi was happy, he was happy. It may have had something to do with them being twins, but who could say for sure. Well, he was a lot of things he was scared off, but he couldn't afford to make his brother or their friends worried about him, not when they were finally starting to recover.

* * *

Mana flipped onto her stomach, coming face to face with a photo on her nightstand. The woman in the picture would appear to be Mana, but brown eyes looked back towards Mana's teal. Mana sighed. "What should I do?"

She sat up and hugged her pillow. "I think Sasha wants to take your place, and that's why she's so bossy and pushy all the time. Why did Dad marry her anyway? And then there's that Atem." She huffed. "First, he acts like a jerk. Then he's suddenly all nice. Not only that, but he's always acting like he's hiding something." She snorted. "I just don't understand him at all. What should I do, huh?"

As expected, she got no answer. The woman before her just continued to smile, forever stuck in the moment. The girl shook her head.

"Well, guess I'll just have to just go with the flow." For the first time that night, she giggled. "I'll figure him out eventually, and I'll find a way to deal with her later." With that, she pushed herself off the bed. A good bath was all she needed to clear her head of her troubles, even for a little while.

* * *

_Hey, guys. I've got some bad news. First off, I have writer's block for this story, but I think it's only a minor case. I know where I want to go, but I don't know how to get there. Second, my writing style has changed drastically since starting this story (since starting this chapter, actually), so I'm feeling a disconnection to the story. With that in mind, I'm sorry to stay that I will be discontinuing this story until further notice._

_On the other note, if you guys have any ideas for this story, I'd gladly appreciate it. Perhaps one of them will be that bridge between where I am and where I want to take this story. And again I'm sorry for the late update, and I'm sorry for the discontinuation._


End file.
